Ajmer blast mastermind killed by RSS men, say police

Joshi, an RSS pracharak who was shot dead Dec 29, 2007, in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, was accused of involvement in the 2007 Ajmer and Mecca Masjid blasts.

After remaining silent for three years, the police have said that Joshi was killed by his own men.

Madhya Pradesh Police Dec 17 stated that they had closed the Joshi murder investigation after Rajasthan ATS arrested Harshad Solanki in connection with the Ajmer blast case.

The police also said that according to their investigation, Joshi was killed for 'mistreating' his colleagues.

Five people -- Raj alias Harshad Solanki, Mehul, Mohan (all from Gujarat), Anand Raj Katare of Sarafa Bazar, Indore, and Vasudev Parmar of Dewas -- have been found involved in conspiring and executing Joshi's murder.

While Mehul and Mohan are still untraced and on the run, Solanki and two others were brought before the Dewas court by the Udyog Nagar police in Dewas on Friday.

According the police sources, Solanki admitted that they murdered Joshi in December 2007.

Solanki, also an accused in the Best Bakery, Pune, and Ajmer blast cases, has been remanded in judicial custody till Dec 20, while Katare and Parmar have been sentd to police custody till Dec 24.

Udyog Nagar police station chief Vinod Singh Kushwah said that Joshi used to threaten and harass the accused in the Best Bakery case so they conspired and killed him.

"Joshi used to harass them and forced them to do daily chores like cleaning the house and even abused them. Annoyed over the daily abuse, they killed him," a police officer said here.

Three people were killed and 30 others injured when explosives kept in a tiffin box went off at the famous sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Oct 11, 2007.